McCullum says Kiwis 'hurting' after ignominy in Cape Town

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Last Updated: Thu, Jan 03, 2013 08:13 hrs

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has said every single player in the Kiwi dressing room is hurting after the whole team was dismissed for a measly 45 in the first innings within the opening day session of the Newlands Test against South Africa.

McCullum described the atmosphere in the dressing room as somber, adding the players were really hurt after their embarrassing surrender against the Proteas, Stuff.co.nz reports.

McCullum said the Kiwis had high hopes coming into the first Test match and they wanted to start well against the Proteas.

The skipper said their performance has let their fans down and that is something, which adds to the immense pain.

McCullum's first big decision of the day returned to haunt him, as he decided to first on winning the toss and was confident he'd got it right.

However, McCullum tried to justify his decision to bat first, saying that if Kiwis could have played the first session well, they might have been in a better position.

McCullum and his fellow batsmen had no answer to a masterful display of seam bowling by Vernon Philander (5-7) who also terrorized them in the home series in March.

The skipper, who faced 19 balls for seven, said it was a mix of poor batting and excellent bowling, as good a spell as you'll see in test cricket.